STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF THE RANGE. 5 
Meadow Death Camas (Zygadenus yenenosus). 
While the foothill death eamas grows on gravelly ridges and dry 
areas, the meadow death camas {Zygadenus venenosus), shown in 
Plate I, grows in damp meadows. It is the common death camas of 
the Pacific States and causes much trouble, though not so many 
deaths as the grassy death camas. 
Mountain Death Camas (Zygadenus elegans). 
In gullies and damp places in the mountains above 8,000 feet there 
is found another death camas, Zygadenus elegans, sometimes in con- 
siderable masses. While this closely resembles the other species, it is 
only slightly poisonous and probably never injures animals on the 
range. 
Death Camas Poisonous to All Animals. 
Cattle may be poisoned hj death camas, and horses are frequently 
made sick by it. Most of the losses, however, are of sheep. There 
have been many serious 
cases of human poison- 
ing when children or 
others have eaten the 
bulbs. 
Symptoms of Zygadenus 
Poisoning. 
The prominent symp- 
toms of Zygadenus 
poisoning, as seen upon 
the range, are frothing 
at the mouth, nausea 
accompanied by vomit- 
ing, great weakness ac- 
companied sometimes 
with nervousness and 
resulting in collapse of 
the animal (fig. 1), 
which may lie without food for hours, or even da}^s, before death ter- 
minates the case. It is not unusual for large numbers of sheep in a 
band to be poisoned by Zygadenus, and in such case the result is 
almost always heavy loss. (See fig. 2.) Perhaps more cases of 
Zygadenus poisoning have been reported from Montana than from 
other States, but this is simply because the cases have been under ob- 
servation in that locality; the losses are probably just as heavy in 
Utah, California, and elsewhere. 
Fig. 2. — A locality in the State of Washington, where 
900 sheep out of a flock of 1,900 were victims of 
grassy death camas. 
Treatment foe Zygadenus Poisoning. 
There are no medicinal remedies which can be used effectively for 
Zygadenus poisoning. The important thing is to avoid the possi- 
bility of the sheep eating any large quantity of the plant. Unfor- 
tunately, the plants are quite toxic, so that comparatively small 
quantities may produce harm. 
